Plymouth man gears up for his return to Spartan Death Race

Spartan Death Race participant Michael Ubaldini chops wood in his Whitemarsh residence in preparation for the event May 9,2014. Photo by Gene Walsh / Times Herald Staff

PLYMOUTH — A Plymouth Meeting man’s relentless death wish is calling him back to the land of maple syrup and unmerciful tests of endurance.

After finishing in the top five in the physically and mentally punishing flight of fancy aptly known as the Spartan Death Race two years ago, Michael Ubaldini is headed for Pittsfield Vermont next month to do it all over again.

Trudging through mud under barbed wire, slogging through water, repeatedly hoisting rocks that weigh 70 pounds, chopping a tree for hours and then lugging the stump to wherever you’re told are not activities most folks would choose as their weekend relaxation.

However, Ubaldini is not most folks, and neither is his buddy Bryan Shane, who joined him for the first Spartan Death Race and will be there again.

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By completing the three-day race the first time, Ubaldini, president of U.S. sales for Swedish software company Specops, made the pantheon of the 15 percent of competitors who’ve mastered the grueling mountainside obstacle course and lived to brag about it.

Even fewer, about 10 percent, finish the Goruck Selection in Colorado that challenged Ubaldini and Shane last year, during a summer “break” from the Spartan Death Race.

“We wanted to try the Goruck just because we were successful with the Death Race,” Ubaldini said. “It was a lot more than we expected and I don’t believe we trained enough for it. I think you need to put in three hours a day and eight hours on the weekend, and with both of us being family men with jobs and responsibilities we just weren’t able to commit the time to train.”

Ubaldini found Goruck even more brutally extreme than what he’d endured in Vermont, he recalled.

“It’s run by current and former military people, and it gives you a heck of a lot of appreciation for what our military go through, especially the special operations people,” he said.

Ubaldini’s training has pretty much been nonstop, involving regular trips to the gym, chopping wood in his backyard and hiking 20 miles through the Appalachian trails.

“Training for an event motivates me on a daily basis,” he allowed. “If I didn’t have the Spartan Death Race I’d still go to the gym and work out, but having this makes the workout a little bit more meaningful … to have something you’re shooting for. Without it, it would be like going through the motions. I like doing something for a reason.”

Where many athletes keep their cabinets stocked with all manner of supplements, Ubaldini downs just a few tablets a day.

“I take Omega 3 fish oil every day, because I’m getting old,” said Ubaldini, who turns 40 in July. “But I was never big on supplements. The only thing we typically take on the course is electrolytes. Thinking back on it, we really didn’t eat a lot either. Clif Bars. Bagels with peanut butter. It’s really about water, keeping hydrated.”

Founded by onetime triathletes Joe DeSena and Andy Weinberg, the Spartan Death Race — affectionately subtitled the “You may Die” race — is always full of surprises for competitors.

“The theme changes each year. There will be some similarities. We’re going to be chopping wood, we’ll be in water, we’ll be hiking and challenged mentally with some types of tasks. It’s hard to guess what we’re going to do and it’s not worth trying.”

With no worries over the unpredictable agenda in front of him, Ubaldini recalled the toughest part of his introductory Spartan go-round: creating an origami crane.

To some people, folding delicate paper might not sound as harrowing as hauling a pile of bricks up a hill, but this task nearly cost Ubaldini the race.

“They provided some directions, but they left some out and we had to memorize the directions,” he said. “I couldn’t get it. I was frustrated and exhausted. I kept doing it wrong. I was an inch away from getting it but just couldn’t figure it out. I took a break, got some nutrition in me, took about 10 minutes, drank some water, took some deep breaths and I got it. But I was that close to quitting. You’re going to let a little paper crane beat you?”

Nudging his mental state to the breaking point was even more challenging than taking on the physical assignments, Ubaldini said.

“Getting pushed to a limit and not quitting. That’s like life. Your mind is the first thing to tell you to quit, not your body. Our bodies can withstand a lot more than we believe they can and the reason we don’t push it to the limit more is because our mind gives out.”

Accustomed to fairly intensive training, Ubaldini said his muscles weren’t all that sore following his ordeal, but nearly 60 miles of hiking did a number on his feet.

He brushed off the notion that being a grizzled Spartan veteran will give him any edge this time around.

“There’s still the unknown out there. But there’s the fact that we’re a little more conditioned now to complete the task at hand and move on to the next task at hand. Don’t think about the finish line, just live in the moment. If there’s any edge having gone through it once, that’s it. If you an athlete training and planning on running 10 miles one day, at the end of that 10 miles, you’re done. With this, they’ll say ‘we’re going on a hike’ and they won’t tell you how long. You could be gone for 10 minutes, you could be going for 10 hours. You have no idea. So being through it once has given us a perspective.”

As he faces down death just for the “fun of it” against many younger — and even some older — challengers, Ubaldini said he has nothing to prove.

“The knees aren’t the same as they used to be. I’m moving a little slower after workouts, but being middle aged now is still just a number to me.”

Despite the ominous moniker hovering over the challenge, Ubaldini said he experienced nothing but cozy camaraderie out on the mountainside.

“What I experienced was actually the complete opposite of a cutthroat race. There were a lot of people helping each other out, trying to inspire others. There were a few times on the trails where we’d see people looking completely defeated … they didn’t want to take another step. But you pick them up and tell them to keep going. People were sharing water, food, vitamins. I think,” he added, “it has to do with the competitors’ respect for one another, and the fact that they were all able to get the courage to come and do it. It takes a special person to be able to do that for two or three days.”

If the Spartans of ancient Greece — for whom the race is named — had this much fun being fearless, then their spirit is justifiably invoked by the 300 challengers who will descend on Pittsfield June 27, 28 and 29.

“It will be a good time,” said Ubaldini, whose wife Robin and daughters Isabella, 10, and Alaina, 8, will be staying at a hotel near the SDR camp and following his progress as best they can. “You’re on a mountain with high-level athletes, surrounded by some great people, enjoying the surroundings of Vermont for a long weekend. Our expectation is to finish. Would I like to finish first? Sure, but that’s not my goal. I just want to enjoy it. And come Sunday, at the end of it, if I’m crowned champion, great. But if I’m not, I’m not going to be disappointed.”

Whether he grabs the finish line or not, Ubaldini is pleased that his daughters will share in his striving to get there.

“My hope is that I inspired them. Not just me, but the other athletes too. They see you going through some very challenging times and overcoming adversity and continuing to pick yourself up every time. I think that gives them a lot of inspiration and motivation.”